[W2] - Career Management and Development

Question 1

Objective vs Subjective Career

Answer 1

Objective Career (focused on objective measures of growth) = Measured via hierarchical position, responsibility, status, salary etc.,

Subjective Career (focused on individual experiences across the working lifespan) = Measured via individual sequence of attitudes & behaviors associated with work-related experiences over the lifespan.

[A career can be vertical from the subjective perspective, but also horizontal. What are the career barriers that result in the ups and downs that draw people away from the “objective” career path? These barriers provide opportunities for intervention]

Question 2

Career vs. Work

Answer 2

Career refers to the sequence of employment (all working experiences/an aggregate/long-term perspective)

Work refers to your current profession.

Question 3

The process of career management for employees (Ball)

Answer 3

o Become aware of their own interests, values, strengths, & weaknesses.

o Obtain information about job opportunities.

o Identify career goals.

o Establish action plans to achieve career goals.

o Evaluate feedback to attain goals.

o Pursue, attain, or disengage (based on feedback – return to the beginning) from goals.

Question 4

Person-Environment Fit Theory; Career Congruence

Answer 4

Posits that individuals will be happier and more successful if they work in a field that aligns with their vocational interest

Question 5

RIASEC’s vocational interest profiles

Answer 5

o Realistic (persistent, stable); e.g., engineer, specialist blue-collar jobs - flourished in the manual work era but would struggle more in today’s knowledge-based economy.

o Investigative (analytical, curious, independent); e.g., biologist, programmer

o Artistic (emotional, idealistic, creative); e.g., art therapist

o Social (cooperative, understanding); e.g., social worker.

o Enterprising (energetic, self-confident); e.g., buyer

o Conventional (calm, conscientious, efficient); e.g., accountant

This list creates a cyclical graph; and those that are close together are more similar than those further apart. It is well-supported and used in the Netherlands as part of career counselling before college.

Question 6

Limitations of the RIASEC Model

Answer 6

Interests are not necessarily static across time! Therefore the model may need to be re-administered throughout the lifespan.

Interests vs. skills (i.e., someone could be interested in nursing but have trouble with anatomy and unable to handle injections)

Question 7

What is the Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

Answer 7

A database to identify jobs that align with one’s interests, skills, and values (plus salary preferences etc.,). It uses typology.

O*NET scores cover cognitive, interpersonal, and physical skill requirements & working conditions. Derived mostly from data of large, representative samples of US workers.

It describes about 1,000 occupations and clusters them with information about worker characteristics, skill/education requirements, experience requirements, occupational requirements (the work context of the role), workforce characteristics (e.g., the labour market info, occupational outlook – how relevant will this job be going forward?), occupation-specific information (e.g., tasks, tools).

Question 8

Characteristics of a Traditional Career

Answer 8

A traditional career is focused on measurable outcomes, and the responsibility for an individual’s career lies more with their organization than with them.

Characteristics:
- Naturally progressing sequence of positions held within an occupation (e.g., junior controller, senior controller etc.,)
- Focus on salary increase and promotion
- Responsibility for career progression lies with the organization

Question 9

The dynamic nature of modern careers

Answer 9

• In the modern day, people are more likely to change occupations. And even if the occupation is retained, sector movement and organization shifting is more common.
• Number of workers with work contracts of one year or less increased by over 10% since 2008.
• More temporary jobs exist; which creates more worker uncertainties, limited earning potential, more occupational transitions.
• There is changing technological and knowledge demands - which require people to self-manage (staying on track with the current job market/career demands)

Question 10

What are the two modern career concepts?

Answer 10

• Boundaryless Career
• Protean Career

Boundaryless Career: Mobile during career - both in terms of psychological mobility (take on opportunities; enjoy working in diverse teams) & physical mobility (organizational, cross-cultural mobility).
More likely to move (physical mobility), more likely to have an open mindset toward new experiences (psychological mobility)

Protean Career: A career that is driven by one’s own values and self-directed. Employees take major responsibility for managing their careers. The goal is achieving psychological success in one’s work.
People with this career concept demonstrate negative relationships with exhaustion/strain/stress, shorter time in finding a new job, and higher career satisfaction!
People who score highly for a protean career orientation may have less of a tendency for mobility, but are very focused on fulfilling or representing their values throughout their career (i.e., would not work for a polluting company if they valued the environment).
Such individuals are driven by the subjective career definition – they are less focused on climbing the career ladder and more on doing what they like/value!

Question 11

Define employability and its three subcomponents

Answer 11

Employability: The ability to IDENTIFY and REALIZE career opportunities. It is a multidimensional construct.

It consists of:
o Career Identity (goals, beliefs)
o Personal Adaptability (willingness/capacity to change to meet demands)
o Social and Human Capital (social networks, age, education, experience)

You can improve employability by working on any of the three subcomponents.

Question 12

The Career Resources Model (Hirschi)

Answer 12

A focus on career resources and their development (not quite a fully-fledged “model”)

o Human capital resources: knowledge, skills, abilities that are important to meet performance expectations for a given occupation.

o Social capital resources: networks, mentors, available social support

o Psychological resources: positive psychological traits and states such as optimism, self-efficacy, resilience. (a broader version of the subcomponent personal adaptability in the previous model)

o Career identity resources: awareness of oneself and the subjective meanings linked with the work role; career goal clarity “Who am I and how is my work meaningful to me? - (similar to employability)

Question 13

Career adaptability as a valuable career resource - and the meaning of its sub-facets: the four C’s

Answer 13

Abstractly defined as the attitudes, competencies, and behaviors that individuals use in fitting themselves to work that suits them.

Individuals high in this trait are more capable of finding better job opportunities, successfully transitioning to work, and securing high quality employment.

Its sub-facets:
- Concern (looking ahead)
- Control (taking decisions and knowing one’s desired career)
- Curiosity (open to possibilities/exploration)
- Confidence (self-efficacy).

Koen and colleagues (2012) found increases in concern, control, and curiosity at 6-month follow-up after training [name goals, reflect on present, plan progression and get feedback, get insight into world of work]. There were no increases in confidence (perhaps because of no learning experiences featuring).

Question 14

Predictors of career success as identified in a meta-analysis by Ng and colleagues (2005)

Answer 14

o Measures of objective career success used: Salary, number of promotions.

o Measures of subjective career success used: Career satisfaction

Socio-demographics:
Salary was mildly influenced by gender (small effect = .18), with gender also having a very small effect on promotions.
Salary was also influenced by age (moderate = .26).
Nothing influenced career satisfaction.

Organizational support had particularly strong effects on subjective career success (that is, career satisfaction) - mostly for supervisor support, than career support, then training (overall .31).

Overall findings:
- Subjective and Objective career success are hard to predict – only small to moderate effects were observed!
- Gender, age, and education were the main indicators of differences in objective success.
- Environmental influences are more relevant than individual factors –> particularly for subjective career success.

Question 15

Evaluating effect sizes

Answer 15

• .10–.23 = small
• .24–36 = moderate
• .37 and higher = high.

Question 16

What can organizations do to support their employees?

Answer 16

• Career planning, career support, career training etc.,
• Managers as career counsellors (best in smaller companies)
  › Can make realistic appraisals of organizational opportunities
  › Use information from past performance evaluations to make realistic suggestions concerning career planning
  › Have experienced similar career decisions, and hence have more empathy for employee.
• Workshops, coaching
  › What are your career goals, interests, values, choices and skills?
  › Where do you want to be in your career in the future?
  › What knowledge skills do you need to attain your goals?
  › How do you want to gather knowledge and develop skills?
  › Is your plan realistic? What are potential obstacles?

Question 17

Name a company particularly known for its internal career development program

Answer 17

Ericsson

[Ericsson FUEL Program: professional development and career enhancement program to support Women into Leadership Roles - features workshops, coaching, lunchtime connect sessions, web-based learning, industry and leadership events, networking]

Question 18

How does career development relate to low-income and low-SES workers?

Answer 18

There are lower career advancement opportunities in general for low-income and low SES workers (e.g., retail, cleaning etc.,).

Career-development theories and approaches are not focused enough on the experiences of low-income individuals.

Question 19

What are female-specific hindrances in achieving objective career success?

Answer 19

• The gender wage gap
• The glass ceiling effect [an invisible barrier that prevents women (and other minority groups) from advancing into powerful positions (i.e., a qualified person wishing to advance within the hierarchy of the organization is hindered due to discrimination)]

Question 20

Why might gender differences in objective career success arise?

Answer 20

o Different expectations and priorities associated with each gender, rooted partly in socialization (social role theory):
Women more likely expected to prioritize family or partner’s career over their own (e.g., by taking career breaks to look after children, working less overtime).

o Human capital & career path differences:
Women are more likely to major in “soft” (caring, helping professions) subjects; men tend to major in life sciences, engineering, IT, management – which are higher earning occupations [but this does not explain pay differences within the same role]

o Differences in social capital:
Women have fewer network ties than male counterparts. Furthermore, women form networks primarily with other women & do not integrate into male networks, which carry the most career-enhancing information (traditional male dominance of organizational power structures) – so women have less access to valuable career knowledge.

o Direct discrimination because of general beliefs held by key organizational players (as recruiters are typically male):
Stereotypes that women are less committed, less competent, and less suitable for organizational tasks can influence the decisions of key organizational players. Although, the female disadvantage in objective career outcomes is constantly decreasing.

[Note that none of these four explain the full picture, however]

Question 21

What aspects of career development does SCCT seek to explain, and what are its origins?

Answer 21

• How basic academic and career interests develop [Interests]
• How educational and career choices are made [Choice Goals + Choice Actions]
• How academic and career success is obtained [Performance Domains and Attainments]

SCCT is based on Bandura’s general social cognitive theory (for cognitive and motivational processes)

Question 22

The basic building blocks of SCCT

Answer 22

Self-Efficacy: An individual’s personal beliefs about their capabilities to perform particular behaviors/courses of action.
Unlike global confidence or self-esteem, self-efficacy beliefs are dynamic and specific to particular activity domains.
SCCT assumes that people are likely to become interested in, pursue, and perform better at activities for which they have strong self-efficacy beliefs (as long as they have the necessary skills/environmental supports).
Self-efficacy beliefs are assumed to derive from four primary information sources:
 Personal performance accomplishments (particularly compelling).
 Vicarious experiences (e.g., observing similar others).
 Social persuasion.
 Physiological and emotional states (reinforcing messages).

Outcome Expectations: Beliefs about the consequences or outcomes of particular behaviors. Choosing to engage in activities, the effort and persistence put into them, and their ultimate success are partly determined by both their self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. People are more likely to engage in an activity if they see their involvement as leading to valued, positive outcomes (e.g., social and self-approval, tangible rewards, attractive work conditions).

Personal Goals: One’s intentions to engage in a particular activity (e.g., to pursue a given degree – choice goal) or to attain a certain level of performance (e.g., to receive an A in a particular course – performance goal).
By setting goals, people help to organize and guide their behavior and to sustain it in the absence of more immediate positive feedback/despite setbacks.
Social cognitive theory posits that goals are tied to both self-efficacy and outcome expectations: People tend to set goals that are consistent with their views of their personal capabilities and the outcomes they expect to attain from pursuing a particular course of action. Success or failure in reaching personal goals, in turn, becomes important information that helps to alter or confirm self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations.

Question 23

SCCT’s model on the development of interest

Answer 23

• Interests in career-related activities develop from self-efficacy and outcome expectations.
• The types of activities to which one is exposed across development is partly a function of context and culture (i.e., cultural norms producing gender differences).
• People are most likely to develop interest in activities at which they both feel efficacious and from which they expect positive outcomes.
• With greater interest comes a greater likelihood to develop goals for sustaining or increasing involvement in an activity. This leads to subsequent mastery or failure experiences; which help to revise self-efficacy, outcome expectations; and help to revise interests within an ongoing feedback loop.
• Interest development is most fluid up until late adolescence when general interests (e.g., in art, science, social, or mechanical activities) tend to become more stable.
  SCCT posits that post-adolescence changes can be explained by changes in self-efficacy beliefs and/or outcome expectations—by exposure to potent new learning experiences (e.g., parenting, technological advances, job training or restructuring) that enable people to alter their sense of self-efficacy and outcome expectations in new directions.
• Interests are impeded from developing when individuals do not have the opportunity to form strong self-efficacy and positive outcome beliefs, regardless of one’s level of objective talent.

Question 24

The two primary aspects of SCCT’s Performance Model

Answer 24

This model is concerned with predicting and explaining two primary aspects of performance:
- Success: the level of success that people attain in educational and occupational pursuits.
- Persistence: the degree to which people persist in the face of obstacles.

Ability is a key influence on performance.

First, ability influences performance/success and persistence directly. Those with higher aptitude in a particular domain tend to do better and persist longer in that domain.

Second, ability is hypothesized to influence performance/success and persistence indirectly though the intervening paths of self-efficacy and outcome expectations. SCCT suggests that self-efficacy and outcome expectations work with ability; in part by influencing the performance goals people set for themselves. People with higher self-efficacy and more positive outcome expectations are more likely to establish higher performance goals for themselves, to organize their skills more effectively, and to persist longer in the face of setbacks. As a result, they may achieve higher levels of success. Therefore, favorable self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals can help people to make the best possible use of their ability.

Question 25

What did Bandura believe the optimum self-efficacy beliefs were?

Answer 25

Bandura believed that the optimum self-efficacy beliefs are those which modestly exceed current capabilities.

Such beliefs are likely to lead people to set challenging (but attainable) performance goals and to engage in activities that stretch their skills and further strengthen their self-efficacy/positive outcome expectations.

Question 26

Research findings on SCCT’s hypotheses

Answer 26

• For SCCT’s interest model: self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations each account for a sizable amount of the variation in vocational and educational interests.
• For SCCT’s choice hypotheses: career-related choices are strongly predicted by interests and, to a lesser extent, self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations (although interests play a lesser role in collectivist cultures - consistent with SCCT’s assumptions about the importance of environmental/cultural influences).
• For SCCT’s performance hypotheses: self-efficacy is a useful predictor of both academic and occupational performance. Research on the sources of information/learning experiences from which self-efficacy beliefs derive has found that performance typically shows the strongest relations with self-efficacy in corresponding activity domains (e.g., successful performance in math-related classes is associated with higher math self-efficacy). The other (vicarious, persuasion, emotional) sources have also been found to relate to self-efficacy, although to a more modest degree.
• SCCT’s hypotheses that interests are more likely to translate into goals, and goals are more likely to promote choice actions, when people are faced with choice-supportive environmental conditions (e.g., relatively low barriers and high supports for their preferred educational/occupational path) is also supported by research.

Question 27

SCCT in practice

Answer 27

• SCCT has sparked interventions aimed at various facets of career development. In particular, it suggests targets for educational and career programs. These include efforts to expand interests and nurture career aspirations in young people, facilitate career goal setting and implementation in young adults, and promoting successful work adjustment (e.g., satisfaction, performance) in adult workers.
• Such interventions tend to rely on experiences that promote self-efficacy and/or positive outcome expectations (e.g., exposure to personal mastery experiences and support, access to accurate information about work conditions and outcomes).
• The theory has also been extended for subpopulations (e.g., women of colour, gay and lesbian workers, persons with disabilities), and has been applied to the study of career behavior in a range of cultural contexts.

Question 28

What is a career actor?

Answer 28

A term that denotes the individual as an active accumulator of the experiences that make up a career.

Question 29

How a recognition of the time element of careers manifests in theory via career stage models

Answer 29

• Time is unidirectional and affects us all.
• Many models consider careers as sequences of distinct stages across time, although they often differ in terms of the principles and motives that underlie them (i.e., Levinson seeking to describe individual development throughout life with a natural focus on career, vs. Super’s intention to specifically describe career development across time).
• However, they all contend that each stage is partly built upon its predecessors (i.e., career progression through time from a nonstochastic point of view). Note that transition between stages may not always be smooth.

Question 30

Baruch’s (2004) Integrated and Expanded 7-Stage Career Stage Model

Answer 30

[F / C / A / R / R / D / R]

(no specific age boundaries for the stages because of inconsistent correspondence in findings)

• Foundation: From birth to adolescence - characterized by value development, initial work experience, initial career thinking and aspirations/expectations.
• Career Entry: Characterized by acquiring the knowledge/skills to enter a profession.
• Advancement: Characterized by developing expertise and generally moving upward - sometimes with an eventual plateau.
• Re-Evaluation: Characterized by re-evaluating the extent of aspiration achievement - caused by endogenous factors (e.g., lack of challenge in one’s job) or by exogenous factors (e.g., plateauing, redundancy, or realization that one’s skills or profession are facing obsolescence).
• Reinforcement: Characterized by implementing the decisions of the previous stage.
• Decline: Characterized by considering/preparing for a withdrawal from work - and a strong desire to pass on knowledge.

Retirement: Characterized by disengaging from the labor market (not always completely)

Question 31

Why are there no clear age brackets for Baruch’s career stages?

Answer 31

• There is variance across jobs/professions in the time needed to obtain the relevant qualifications.
• There is variance across individuals in the ways their lives evolve.
• There is an ongoing increase in the educational qualifications jobs require (leading young people to start full-time work about 10 years later than their predecessors)

Question 32

Minicycles within career stages

Answer 32

• Across the stages, career actors often need to evaluate their prospects and make decisions to reinvigorate or redirect their careers.
• The frequency of minicycles is on the rise. Frequent changes in the nature of work/the skill requirements of various jobs have been part of the cause. This is partially because of increased competition and the accelerating pace of technological development. More frequent downsizing has also reduced employer commitment.
• Individuals are more likely to change jobs and work environments; whether involuntarily or voluntarily - so reestablishment is needed. Key capacities for navigating minicycles are the ability to learn and the motivation to repeat that learning process.

Question 33

A Contemporary Version of Baruch’s Career Stage Model

Answer 33

A comprehensive/modified version of Baruch’s model was created to better depict the current/modern perspective on career progression through stages. It does feature age brackets, but just as general indicators.

[F / C / A / R / GCR / R]

• Foundation [0 – 16/23]
• Career Entry [17/24 – 27/32]
• Advancement [28/33 – 38/44]
• Reinforcement [39/45 – 55/60]
• Gradual Change of Roles [56/61 – N/A]
• Retirement

Reevaluation has been removed due to a lack of empirical support for the midlife crisis with which it had been associated (it may occur at any point in life when significant, usually work related, events occur). This is represented in the model as a reoccurring cycle (characterized by constant learning) of:
- Evaluation
- Re-foundation
- Re-establishment.

Question 34

Define the Space Element of Careers

Answer 34

The space element involves both the profession (i.e., roles and tasks performed) and the work environment.

It is multidimensional (because work environments can differ in structure, culture, size and purpose)

In the present day, careers should not be considered a natural evolution/parallel progression of roles in the same general occupational context; or even a series of related jobs. The relative stability of the labour market in the decades before and after World War II meant that this was the case for most people. However, “The Great Jobs Switch” from manufacturing to services in the West forced career changes onto many individuals.

Question 35

Describe the Traditional Career Concept

Answer 35

• Careers bound to a single organization or particular professions that are usually joined at the entry stage.
• The individual is supported and managed by the organization - and rarely actively manage their own careers.
• It originated in the industrial/post-industrial era, continuing into the 1970s.
• It represented the mentality of careers in this era, moreso than the norm.

Question 36

Describe the Boundaryless Career Concept

Answer 36

• Characterized by both physical and psychological mobility.
• These career actors moved between organizations of their own initiative – to advance their careers or find more fulfilling work. Resiliency and self-efficacy in response to adverse events are crucial – and the motivation to learn.
• Originated in response the changing corporate world/economic conditions beginning in the 1970s and into the 1980s (e.g., increasing governmental emphasis on financial objectives).
• Stable internal labour markets were no longer the norm, and individualism was increasingly valued.

Question 37

Describe the Protean Career Concept

Answer 37

• Within this concept you are classified along two dimensions: the extent to which the career is value driven, and the extent of self-directedness.
• The protean career can also be viewed as a unidimensional attitude that reflects subjective career success; as it has been linked with less stress, less emotional exhaustion, and greater satisfaction with career transitions.
• The protean career focuses on the career orientation of the actor (both value-driven and behavioural) –> whereas the boundarylessness concept is primarily concerned with the career structure. A value-driven/self-directed individual (a “SOLID CITIZEN”) could stay within the same organization indefinitely, if they find a good fit.
• Contemporary era

Question 38

Combining the Boundaryless and Protean perspectives

Answer 38

Combining the two dimensions of boundaryless career (psychological and physical mobility) with the two protean dimensions (value-drive and self-direction) yields 16 potential career profiles.

Briscoe and Hall (2006) concluded that only 8 are likely to exist in contemporary career contexts (although others could emerge with future changes)

Individuals who score low on all four dimensions are described as TRAPPED/LOST. The other extreme are described as PROTEAN CAREER ARCHITECTS.

Question 39

Describe the Post-Corporate Career Concept

Answer 39

• Careers that take place OUTSIDE large organizations. Such individuals may have left organizations, voluntarily or involuntarily, or may be unable/unwilling to pursue corporate careers because of the uncertainty of them.
• Originated at the end of 1990s - when many large organizations consistently resorted to layoffs & outsourcing their functions => creating the need for smaller & agile organizations to provide outsourcing services & compelling many individuals to work either alone/outside large corporations.
• It can’t be easily located on the protean-boundaryless framework.
• Such careers don’t normally involve hierarchical rewards; and instead provide intrinsic and financial rewards to their actors.
• The post-corporate career is relevant in the present day - particularly in light of the major waves of redundancy following the credit-crunch crisis that started in 2008 BUT they haven’t become the norm as some predicted!
• Indeed, the traditional, corporate-bound career has proved quite robust & survived through the pressures of competition & rationalization.

Question 40

Is the Traditional Career Concept still relevant in the Present Day?

Answer 40

While contemporary concepts are gaining relevance, the traditional concept is still present.

One example is in call centers.

Question 41

Holland’s RIASEC Model and the idea of struggling through time to find the ideal space.

Answer 41

The two axes of Holland’s model are:
- Working with things versus people.
- Working with data versus with ideas.

Each of the six typologies reflects particular interests /values and activity preferences that are attached to certain occupations. Cognitive abilities has recently been added as a parallel dimension types => individuals are more likely to pursue careers whose cognitive demands (task complexity) they have the ability to handle.

Holland believed that careers contain a struggle for career actors to find occupational environments that fit their interests - and values - and whose demands they can meet.

This model is consistent with the protean and boundaryless concepts - but it needs more clarity as to what each of its types actually represent.

Question 42

What is a psychological contract?

Answer 42

Perceptions regarding reciprocal obligations of employees and employers when a work contract begins.

Question 43

How can a psychological contract impact work outcomes?

Answer 43

The extent to which employees perceive the psychological contract as honored or breached relates to key outcomes -

Work attitudes: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions.

Actual performance: in-role and extra-role behaviors

Question 44

Transactional vs. Relational psychological contracts

Answer 44

Transactional Contracts: High reciprocity, based on monetary exchanges (pay-for-performance), no long-term relationship expectations. [aligned more with modern instability]

Relational Contracts: No limits on relationship duration, include emotional elements like commitment and loyalty. [aligned more with the traditional career]

Question 45

The implications of the modern psychological contract

Answer 45

The new psychological contract with a focus on employability leads to reduced workforce commitment (and elevated stress).

Career actors appreciate employers who offer traditional career elements (financial rewards, job security, advancement prospects, training opportunities).

Employers can tackles this by offering better career deals (which is typically met with greater affective and normative commitment) –> translating into psychological contracts with more relational elements.

Question 46

The three major views on the factors that govern successful career progression

Answer 46

Structural View [opportunistic approach] : Focuses on organizational and societal structures that influence career success.

Human Capital View: Emphasizes individual skills, education, and experiences.

Social Capital View: Considers relationships and networks that aid career advancement.

Question 47

What is the contest mobility view of career progression?

Answer 47

Individuals compete fairly for rewards based on credentials and contributions.

Aligns with a human capital view of career progression.

Question 48

Categories of Human Capital

Answer 48

General Human Capital:
Attributes facilitating performance in most jobs, such as educational attainment, cognitive ability, and personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness, emotional stability).

Job-Specific Human Capital:
Attributes relevant to performance in specific jobs, including job-specific knowledge and skills, as well as personality traits suited to certain roles (e.g., extraversion for managers).

Job-Irrelevant Human Capital:
Characteristics that logically shouldn’t affect job performance but do influence career success, such as physical appearance (height, attractiveness).

Question 49

How does the human capital view factor into career planning?

Answer 49

Career actors should align their career choices with their stable human capital attributes and work on cultivating necessary skills to achieve success in their chosen paths.